Category: Stories

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Hej hallÃ¥ alla glada 🙂 !
Sedan våren har en del grejor hänt i mitt liv som varit både omstörtande och fantastiska.
Dags för en recap över händelser och projekt!

April
I våras flyttade jag och Sanna till Krukmakargatan från Hagaparken.
Denna flytt var skön på alla de sätt för att vi kom närmare våra kompisar i stan, och det var första gången vi verkligen bodde själva.

Vi jobbade på med Caretunes också, fick lite inspiration och hjälp utav Emil från Openworks.

Maj
Inte mycket hände här.

Juni
danslager09

Jag brukar årligen delta på ett dansläger på Fårö som instruktör. Det är en grym upplevelse med skön gemenskap, nya bekantskaper och massor av glädjeämnen.
Här någonstans började jag fundera över om det inte vore härligt med en egen bostad också. Under tiden som jag jobbat på Fröjd så har jag kunnat lägga undan en del pengar, tillräckligt för en bostadsrättsinsats.

Juli
Idén blev verklighet och jag köpte min första bostad!
Sanna valde att bo kvar på Krukis, tillsammans med en ny och urskön roommate!
Semester på Gotland, med allt vad det innebär utav sol, bad, hummeljakt och glass (i dubbel bemärkelse).

humlan
Och sÃ¥ blev jag sjuk ocksÃ¥, under semestern. Skönt att ha det avklarat 🙂 !

Augusti
fjall
Bilresa till Härjedalen med Fjällbröderna.
Vi fiskade, tältade och utforskade Bruksvallarna.
Första natten hittade vi inget bra stället att slå upp tältet på. Istället hittade vi en privatfest.
Vi fick bo i deras andra, skitstora och skitfina hus. Grymt generöst!

broderna
Alla fiskade och alla utom jag fick napp. Som tur var 😉 .

September
Inflyttningen i lägenheten gick inte smärtfritt, men det var fett nice, både processen och slutresultatet.
Mycket fix och trix med allt som man inte tänker på men som tillkommer en sådan sak.
Jag och Sanna slutade kalla oss pojkvän och flickvän, vilket var bra!
Nu verkar bÃ¥da mycket gladare och generellt mer peppade pÃ¥ livet 🙂 !

Oktober
ransoneringsbok
En ransoneringsbok som jag fotograferade hos min farmor och farfar på Gotland.

tapetserareUtdrag från min farmors fars skissbok. Han jobbade som tapetserare.
Mycket spännande!

Jag var på Skansen med delar av min första familj, Kim & Håkan och Kaspian! Det var awesome, björnar, vargar och massor av påfåglar! Fick t o m se en älg.

Besökte Norrköping för inflyttningsfest i Casa Magnusson, Ekedahl och Viotti.
Sistnämnda har lätt snyggaste efternamnet 🙂 !


Festen var en succé och Norrköping likaså.
Vilken stad!

nrk
Vacker arkitektur, trevliga invånare och duktiga frisörer. Passade även på att hälsa på mina kusiner!

Caretunes är just nu ett pausat projekt. Inväntar Flattr, då jag misstänker att de redan har gjort det som Caretunes skulle bli. Skall bli spännande att se!
Under tiden så fokar jag min tid på mer privata projekt och personlig utveckling.
Planerar just nu ett vspel, samt en resa till en annan kontinent!
Chao slong!

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This timeless piece is written by W. Livingston Larned.

Listen, son: I am saying this as you lie asleep, one little paw crumpled under your cheek
and the blond curls stickily wet on your damp forehead. I have stolen into your room
alone. Just a few minutes ago, as I sat reading my paper in the library, a stifling wave of
remorse swept over me. Guiltily I came to your bedside.

There are the things I was thinking, son: I had been cross to you. I scolded you as you
were dressing for school because you gave your face merely a dab with a towel. I took
you to task for not cleaning your shoes. I called out angrily when you threw some of your
things on the floor.
At breakfast I found fault, too. You spilled things. You gulped down your food. You put
your elbows on the table. You spread butter too thick on your bread. And as you started
off to play and I made for my train, you turned and waved a hand and called, “Goodbye,
Daddy!” and I frowned, and said in reply, “Hold your shoulders back!”

Then it began all over again in the late afternoon. As I came up the road I spied you,
down on your knees, playing marbles. There were holes in your stockings. I humiliated
you before your boyfriends by marching you ahead of me to the house. Stockings were
expensive-and if you had to buy them you would be more careful! Imagine that, son, from
a father!

Do you remember, later, when I was reading in the library, how you came in timidly, with
a sort of hurt look in your eyes? When I glanced up over my paper, impatient at the
interruption, you hesitated at the door. “What is it you want?” I snapped.

You said nothing, but ran across in one tempestuous plunge, and threw your arms
around my neck and kissed me, and your small arms tightened with an affection that God
had set blooming in your heart and which even neglect could not wither. And then you
were gone, pattering up the stairs.

Well, son, it was shortly afterwards that my paper slipped from my hands and a terrible
sickening fear came over me. What has habit been doing to me? The habit of finding
fault, of reprimanding-this was my reward to you for being a boy. It was not that I did not
love you; it was that I expected too much of youth. I was measuring you by the yardstick
of my own years.

And there was so much that was good and fine and true in your character. The little heart
of you was as big as the dawn itself over the wide hills. This was shown by your
spontaneous impulse to rush in and kiss me good night. Nothing else matters tonight,
son. I have come to your bedside in the darkness, and I have knelt there, ashamed!

It is feeble atonement; I know you would not understand these things if I told them to you
during your waking hours. But tomorrow I will be a real daddy! I will chum with you, and
suffer when you suffer, and laugh when you laugh. I will bite my tongue when impatient
words come. I will keep saying as if it were a ritual: “He is nothing but a boy-a little boy!”

I am afraid I have visualised you as a man. Yet as I see you now, son, crumpled and
weary in your cot, I see that you are still a baby. Yesterday you were in your mother’s
arms, your head on her shoulder. I have asked too much, too much, yet given too little of
myself. Promise me, as I teach you to have the manners of a man, that you will remind
me how to have the loving spirit of a child.

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One year ago I got an employment as a junior developer. Since then I’ve learned quite much, especially things about working as a junior developer.

Things that might be useful:

  • If you have someone more experienced on the office who could review your code before launch, insist on that they do it. She or he can tell you how they would have done stuff (and things you have missed), you’ll learn tons from it. If you’re lucky you might even get a mentor you’ll be able to ask questions, and who’ll be glad to review your code.
  • Just because you just got hired doesn’t mean that you should stop reading. Continue to read, write and evaluate your methods. This is a way to keep the work funny and interesting as well. Never stop learning.
  • Take initiatives, ask around. Take the chances you get to get to know your team mates better.
  • Ask your team mates what they are doing, and why they are doing it that way. Question everything.
  • Write down the stuff that you learn and share with others who are, or will be in the same position.

And then we have a few optional things that I personally do:

  • I keep my desk clutter free. At my workplace, it’s not a requirement or anything, but I just like to be able to focus on the screen and the tasks ahead of me.
  • Always show up early, or at least in time. This is not a solid requirement at my work place either, but I like to show up early, and then leave early. I tend to do the heavy tasks in the morning, and more light weight tasks in the afternoon.
  • Be polite and generous with compliments, remember peoples names and details about their personal life. But don’t pretend to be interested if you’re not. Falsehood always shines through.
  • Do your work. You might find this point very obvious, but I’ve seen enough people showing up at work to just spend the time procrastinating.

Most of these things are common sense, but you’ll be surprised of how many who wouldn’t agree with them. The important point is that you deliver what you promised, and that you do it on time. When you work in teams of more experienced people and you get to work with different projects (both fresh and uh-oh-so-old-and-completely-idiotic) you learn the most important things. The small things that no one ever seem to cover in those books that you read, or that tutorial that you walked. You learn things that could only be learned through hard earned experience.

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Before I started working in an office, I exercised martial arts three times a week. But then, after I started my new job at the office, I lacked the motivation and the time.

About four weeks ago, I started exercising 15 – 20 min morning before having breakfast.
Usually I wake up at 06:15, then I cuddle a bit with Sanna, gets dressed, drinks a moutful of water and then gets outside for a 3-min jog to get the morning newspapers.
After that I start exercising, by using my own body weight as resistance.
Push-ups, sit-ups, dips, squats, back lifts and other well known exercises.

It’s totally worth it! Instead of feeling drowsy and weak, I feel energized and alert.
Exercising is proved to have a very positive effect on your life and overall well-being.

It’s not for nothing that HealthyOntario.com states:

”Physical activity is a key factor in the health and quality of life for Canadians of all ages. It is essential for healthy growth and development in childhood: it develops a strong, healthy heart; muscular strength and flexibility, and bone density. It also contributes to maintaining healthy weight, building positive self-esteem, and setting healthy habits for life.
In adults, regular physical activity provides almost limitless benefits, including:

  • maintenance of healthy weight
  • reduced stress levels
  • relieved symptoms of depression and anxiety
  • increased energy
  • improved sleep and digestion
  • improved posture and balance
  • stronger muscles and bones
  • more confidence and a more positive outlook on life
  • ability to perform daily tasks with more ease and less fatigue
  • increased bone density
  • better circulation
  • strengthened heart and lungs
  • improved mood
  • strengthened immune system
  • prolonged good health and independence in seniors
  • better quality of life.

Regular physical activity also reduces the risk of premature death from heart disease, stroke and certain types of cancer; reduces the risk of developing high blood pressure; and lowers total blood cholesterol and triglycerides and increases high density lipoproteins (HDL or the “good” cholesterol).”

Every little step counts, each minute is an investment. Place it wisely, and have fun while doing it.
Also, if you exercise regularly you’ll find it much easier to keep your eating habits healthy. It’s just like when you were a kid and you’d just built your first sand castle.
The coolest part about exercising early is that you then have the hardest part of the day behind you. If you organize the rest of your day in a similar fashion, it is quite easy to keep yourself motivated and disciplined. That’s the way I like it, what works for you?

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Two years ago I decided that I wanted to work as a web something. I didn’t really know if design, code, client care or entrepreneurship was my cup of tea. I really had no idea.

The reason for my interest came from the fact that I was unemployed and had just moved to Stockholm. Most of my day went to working on my CV, and handling those out to different stores where I wanted to work. I didn’t get any. “Come back around Christmas time” they said. And so I did.

But somewhere in between I went to a party, where I overheard some guy asking another guy if he had any space in his very busy schedule. The other guy worked as a freelance web developer. “No” he replied. I took a shot. Accidentally, one of the only things that I had liked about school was when I had been working with HTML and found out about those web standards. I was attracted to the fact that they were striving towards an accessible web. “I’ve got some experience with web development” I said to the guy. He answered: “Perfect! Give me your hand.” I reached for him, and then he wrote a telephone number in my palm.

After that, and now with a client who wanted me to do work for him, I began to understand that this would require me to start my own company. My new life in Stockholm was forming, just a few month after graduation in Klintehamn and I had just turned myself as unemployed into a freelance web developer (or at that time, HTML markup-er, heh) together with tech wizz kid Petter.

The next week, I started listening to podcasts about entrepreneurship, web development and I … took lessons in spanish (Pimsleur). I read up on A list apart, 456bereastreet.com, robertnyman.com, adactio.com, accessify.com, andybudd.com, Veerle’s blog, Information Architects, Molly.com and of course StevePavlina.com. A big thank you to all of those who openly shares their discoveries, techniques, thoughts and philosophies!

I bought “CSS Mastery”, written by Andy Budd. It was great. I finally grasped floats, and how to make different menus. Wonderful 🙂 ! Now I could take on my first client. I charged him 4000 SEK (around 410 €) for a complete website and a full index of pictures, taken by my partner Petter. It took me two weeks to complete that website, and in the end we didn’t even get paid as the client didn’t like the design. We quit working with that particular client, and learned after a while to handle pricing, pitching, support and office hours better. That was the hardest part of the work, no doubt about it.

After a few more clients, and a few more cases, I saw an advertisement over at webbjobb.nu, which is a web niched job and gig board in swedish. I sent them an e-mail showing off my/our work and asked them to get back to me. They did, and after a really bumpy start, it all settled to be really good. I learned a lot during those first weeks, and still do. The reason as to why I wanted to get employed was that I didn’t know that much about managing, pitching, sales, money or even back end work. Now I had an opportunity to learn all that. Now, after a year at my current employment I still think that it was a good choice, I’ve learned so much from all of the brilliant people that I’ve had the opportunity to work with, almost only that makes it worth in itself.

Now, in order to stay alert and fresh I read a lot of articles, try out new methods and techniques and do my best to document the results. Most of the time, it’s a blast!

The following month (November) I will work less over at my current workplace in order to get time to work on one of my own projects, which is loosely called The Lagom Model. I’ll document the process either here, or on a separate blog which will be announced later.

I love my career at the moment and the craft. I love the internet, and the possibilities that the medium possess.